Category Archives: New York City

A couple of days ago, I detailed my extensive plan to keeping healthy by always making sure that I have healthy snacks around. Well… to be honest, all of that was put to a really hard test yesterday. A very hard, difficult test.

When you’re on a restrictive diet like Whole30, what do you do when you’re out for dinner but not actually eating dinner? How do you handle a situation in which you don’t have access to a lot of healthy food? Here’s what I found out.

In January 2005, weighing in at 231.6 pounds, I walked into a Weight Watchers meeting for the first time. I was 18 years old and finally decided that it was time to lose weight.

Although my weight loss journey has been pretty up-and-down ever since, I’m happy to be keeping most of that weight off now. And how do I do it? I have a combination of tools: my gastric bypass, learning to cook healthy and, of course, continuing to seek support at Weight Watchers meetings.

As I started to share more of my healthy eating adventures here and on Twitter, it seems that I struck a spark with Weight Watchers themselves. Thanking me for my devotion to the company and a healthier lifestyle in general, they surprised me with something that I considered pretty darn cool: an invitation to watch a taping of ABC’s The Chew as Weight Watchers hosted a competition to find the “Weight Watchers Chef”. So exciting! Continue reading →

Last weekend I convinced my friend Christiana to come with me to Smorgasburg Williamsburg, an outdoor food market by Brooklyn Flea, because I saw that baker Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina would be there selling Pan de Muerto. I mean, could I help myself? It was Dia de los Muertos and coincidentally a gorgeous, warm autumn day.

We ended up having a fantastic time and tried a ton of food, including this delicious traditional Colombian arepa from Palenque Food and an alligator chili that we just LOVED from Brooklyn Bayou. Afterward, I was in a good mood all day.

In case you weren’t aware, last week was New York City Wine & Food Fest. I was a pretty busy bee for work and, I admit, not really eating as healthy as I could be. It all culminated in one of the best nights of my life–the Olmeca Altos Tequila Tacos & Tequila Party hosted by Bobby Flay. And, surprisingly enough, I came away inspired!

I was at the party representing Latina magazine and The Latin Kitchen, of course, and was madly instagramming from both accounts the entire time. I also brought my friend Justin Schwartz, a fantastic cookbook editor and blogger behind JustCookNYC. Together, we went around with my very determined mission to try EVERY SINGLE TACO.

We succeeded (mostly) and I was honestly surprised by the sheer amount of variety that we found at this party. Maybe I shouldn’t have been, since the chefs were all pretty amazing, but trying all of the crazy, typical, fusion (and more!) varieties left me completely in awe–and even more inspired to create new recipes than I could have imagined.

In the meantime, as I work to get back to the kitchen after an utterly exhausting and wonderful week, here’s a recap of what happened (and what went in my belly!) at the Tacos & Tequila party. Trust me, it was all GOOD.

Salvation Taco: Headcheese Tostada with Local Vegetables en Escabeche. This was the first one we approached, and I was immediately drawn to how pretty these jars are. Doesn’t it just make you want to start pickling something? Continue reading →

About Me

I’m Irina Gonzalez, and this is my blog devoted to Healthy Latin Food (and more). I lost 100 pounds and gained a love of veggies!

Transforming my habits in and out of the kitchen, I eat (mostly) healthy food—usually with a Latin twist. Here I share my favorite original recipes, healthy eating tips and how I (try to) keep the weight off.